This special way to carve a pumpkin is perfect for Christian schools, Sunday School classes, or homeschool Bible lessons. It helps children truly understand Jesus’ love and forgiveness in a way they can see and feel—through a simple, hands-on lesson they’ll never forget.
Materials Needed:
pumpkin
pumpkin carving tools
marker or pen
battery-operated candle
newspaper
bowl
Christian Pumpkin Carving Directions
Instead of cutting a hole in the top of the pumpkin, draw a heart shape on the back.
Ask the students what shape you drew. Explain that they should take Jesus into their heart and love him with their whole heart.
Carve out the heart. The children may sing “Jesus Loves Me” or “Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World” while you are carving the heart shape.
Show the children the “yucky” looking pulp inside the heart and say that it doesn’t make the heart look very nice. Explain that the pulp is like our “yucky” sins and we don’t feel very nice when we sin.
Clean out the pulp and the seeds from inside the heart and place them in the bowl.
(Children may assist in cleaning out the pulp or you may allow them to touch and smell it as you clean it out, or look at it through magnifying glasses. Ask them to describe it to you. You may also take this opportunity to talk about the pumpkin seeds & planting a pumpkin).
While cleaning out the pulp, explain that this is similar to Jesus taking away or forgiving our sins and making our hearts clean again.
Ask how this makes the students feel (happy). Draw a happy face on the front of the pumpkin. You may draw shapes for the eyes and nose and ask the students to name the shapes.
Cut out the happy face on the front side of the pumpkin. While you are cutting out the happy face the children may sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” or “Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See”.
Place a battery-operated light/candle inside the pumpkin and light up the happy face.
Explain that Jesus is the light of the world and should light up their life. When you take Jesus into your heart it makes you feel happy, good, & pure. Sing “This Little Light of Mine”.
Christian Pumpkin Carving Book
This student-made book is a great follow-up activity to the pumpkin carving. The book gives students a nice keepsake and reminder of the activity.
Cover Page – Students write their name on the line under the pumpkin to complete the title. Students color the pumpkins and words.
Page 2 – Take Jesus into your heart. Students trace the heart, pretending to “cut it out” like in the pumpkin carving activity and color the rest of the pumpkin.
Page 3 – This is how I feel when Jesus takes away my sins. Students draw a happy face on the pumpkin.
Page 4 – The light of Jesus shines in me! Students color the face yellow to resemble it shining and the pumpkin orange.
Students cut apart the pages along the dotted lines and put them in order to form a book. Staple the pages together.
If you would like a free copy of the Pumpkin Carving Book printable CLICK HERE.
Extend the Lesson with More Faith-Filled Activities
I love this activity so much because it helps young children truly understand Jesus’ love and forgiveness in a way they can understand. That message is so important to me that I decided to extend it into several more hands-on activities—each one designed to keep the focus on how Jesus cleans our hearts and helps His light shine in us. These easy-prep companion activities continue the lesson in meaningful ways while also building important fine-motor, sequencing, and writing skills.
Christian Pumpkin Sequencing Activity
This activity helps students recall and retell each part of the carving lesson. They cut, order, and glue the steps to show how Jesus cleans our hearts and helps us shine for Him. It’s a perfect literacy tie-in!
Ways to Shine Jesus’s Light Cut & Paste Activity
As with any activity, we want to make it meaningful and relate it to students’ everyday lives. After discussing how we can shine Jesus’s light on others, students cut and sort pictures showing ways they can shine Jesus’s light—by helping, sharing, and showing kindness.
It’s a simple way to help children connect the message to their everyday lives.
Christian Pumpkin Craft & Writing Activity
Now it’s time for students to create their own special pumpkins! What better way to help them remember the activity than to create one themselves! Students create a pumpkin with a happy face on one side and a heart on the back to remind them of the carving lesson.
It’s fun, creative, and designed for little hands with simple cutting and gluing steps.
These can be sent home as a reminder of the activity, or you can combine them with a writing activity and use them as a wonderful classroom display. Students complete a writing prompt such as “I shine Jesus’s light by…” or “Jesus shines in me when…”. They can write or draw their responses.
They make a wonderful faith-filled fall bulletin board that showcases how Jesus’s light shines in us so that we can shine/show his love to others.
Christian Pumpkin Foldable Craft
Another craft option is this Christian pumpkin foldable craft. It’s very easy to prep and has a meaningful message. Students color, cut, and fold a pumpkin that opens to reveal the light inside—representing Jesus shining within them.
Younger students can color and fold it (no cutting required) or students can cut the pumpkin out. It works either way and makes a wonderful take-home project!
Make Your Classroom Glow with Faith This Fall
This lesson means so much to me because it conveys Jesus’s love and forgiveness in a way that even the youngest learners can understand. Through something as simple as a pumpkin, they begin to see that no matter what they’ve done, Jesus loves them, forgives them, and fills them with His light.
To save you time, I’ve put all of these activities together in one ready-to-use Christian Pumpkin Carving Resource that includes everything you need—directions, printables, crafts, bulletin board letters, and a family letter.
👉 Get the complete Christian Pumpkin Carving Lesson & Activities here!
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